- Date
- August 22, 2020, 10:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Louise, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N3251ZPiper PA22
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20200822015369A
- Case key
- 101899
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s decision to takeoff in shifting winds from a remote unimproved gravel bar, which resulted in a failure to attain an airspeed suitable for flight and a loss of control.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that during takeoff from a remote unimproved gravel bar, after becoming airborne, the airplane began to descend. He added that there was “plenty of runway left” and he allowed the airplane to bounce on the airstrip. The pilot continued the takeoff attempt, and after an additional bounce, the airplane descended for a third time onto “much larger rocks”. Subsequently, the airspeed diminished, and the airplane came to rest in the trees and rocks. The pilot added that during the takeoff, the headwind switched to a tailwind. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3251Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA22 (150)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-7199
- Built
- 1959
- Airframe hours
- 3,597.7
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A1B, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- TKA · Talkeetna, AK
- Destination
- MRI · Anchorage, AK
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 31
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 22, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 159.8 total · 64.5 in this make and model · 110.4 as pilot in command · 63.9 in the last 90 days · 30.5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.79 inHg
- Observed at
- PAGK, 58 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 8, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 13.3 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N3251Z · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.